River Ramblings The newsletter of the Indian River Citrus League MAY 2013 Legislature Approves CITRUS RESEARCH FUNDING By Andrew Meadows Director of Communications - Florida Citrus Mutual The state Legislature agreed to fund $9.5 million in research related activities to combat a terrifying disease known as HLB, or citrus greening that threatens to wipe out Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry and its 76,000 jobs. The funding is part of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (FDACS) 2013-2014 budget. The breakout: $8 million for HLB reserved research and incremental funding of $500,000 for each of the related FDACS programs; citrus Nursery certification, citrus germplasm facility and citrus pest management. “Of course Commissioner Adam Putnam has done yeoman’s work to help our industry battle HLB. He knows we are in the fight of our life and this state investment is critical to get some short-term research answers,” said Michael W. Sparks, executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, the state’s largest citrus grower trade organization. “We also commend state Legislators for showing this level of commitment to one of the state’s most important signature industries.” “Representative Ben Albritton and Senator Alan Hays were instrumental in securing the funding and did an unbelievably strong job for the industry. In addition Representatives Steve Crisafulli and Seth McKeel as well as Senators Denise Grimsley and Joe Negron worked particularly hard on this issue.” Governor Rick Scott still must approve the budget. HLB is a vascular disease vectored by the Asian citrus psyllid. It is found in all of Florida’s 32 citrus producing counties and can kill a tree in two years. P3 P4 P6-8 P9 Florida Citrus, Industry Can protected Industry HLB Greening Websites culture play a role Websites Disease and in Florida’s fresh Finding a citrus future? Solution www.ircitrusleague.org With Indian River Select premium orange and grapefruit juice... you get 100% FLORIDA juice. Our orange and grapefruit juice is ALL NATURAL and certified KOSHER. IT IS GROWN, PICKED, SQUEEZED AND BOTTLED IN FLORIDA, USA. www.indianriverjuice.com Commited to the future of rural communities. Florida Citrus, HLB Greening Disease and Finding a Solution by Rick Kress, President Southern Gardens Citrus Every day, the Florida citrus industry is feeling the impact of the HLB greening disease. As growers, it is our nature to normally be full of optimism. Watching fruit fall off of the trees and having trees ultimately die can create a high level of pessimism and negativity. We are driven by the fact that Florida citrus is of a quality that is second to none in the world. Florida oranges and grapefruits will always be an important part of the consumer’s diet. Multiple entities within the Florida citrus industry are very active to ensure that Florida citrus remains in the forefront. From a disease research and solution perspective, this disease has presented a challenge that the Florida grower has never had to deal with before. The solution to this disease is not obvious due to the fact that it has been in the world’s citrus growing regions for years. Whether we like it or not, finding a solution is going to take time and a financial commitment. The development of a solution involves four (4) specific areas: research, regulatory approval, agricultural confirmation and consumer approval. All must be done concurrently in order to commercialize a solution in a timely manner once identified. The Florida citrus industry has made the commitment to multiple research efforts with the necessary financial support from the growers and other sources, all as coordinated by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation. Southern Gardens Citrus has a processing operation that requires a significant quantity of fruit to be viable. When the HLB greening disease was first confirmed in one of our groves, one of the decisions made was to take the steps necessary to ensure that the processing operation remained a viable entity. As a result, the company made the decision to invest in research to develop disease and insect resistant citrus trees with the intent to commercialize the technology when available. With the various research projects, Southern Gardens is in varying stages of disease resistance confirmation and field testing. Positive results are being noted on several fronts. The biggest challenge is to figure out a way to speed up Mother Nature. All four (4) of the key commercialization areas as noted above for a given solution to the disease are being addressed as appropriate. For all of the research work now in place within Florida and the world on this disease, a solution will be found. www.ircitrusleague.org page 3 MICRONUTRIENTS FOR CITRUS CITRUS MIX BLOOM SPRAY AP(ADVANCED PERFORMANCE) Order Today... 800-228-4950 ChemicalDynamics.com CHEMICAL DYNAMICS, INC. Our Business Is To Help You Grow Dave Kernodle Crop Insurance Specialist Your ad could Your ad could be here. be here. We Keep You Growing Please call Please call • Professional Service • Custom Mapping Solutions • Streamline Claim Service 772-562-2728 772-562-2728 Toll Free 888-296-7533 [email protected] for info. for info. www.cardeninsurance.com Industry Websites Citrus Administrative Committee Representative Steve Crisafulli Citrus Health Management Areas http://www.citrusadministrativecommittee.org/ http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/ www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/chmas/index.shtml Citrus Research & Development Foundation details.aspx?MemberId=4448&SessionId=61 Florida Citrus Extension Agents Website www.citrusrdf.org Representative Tom Goodson http://citrusagents.ifas.ufl.edu/Citrus_Agents Florida Department of Agriculture http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/representatives/ _Home_Page/Citrus_Agents_Home.html http://www.freshfromflorida.com/ details.aspx?MemberId=4500&SessionId=66 Greening/HLB Citrus Health Response Plan Updates Representative Gayle Harrell http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/greening/index.shtml http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs. http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/ HLB Nutrient Management htm?docid=18240 details.aspx?MemberId=4211 http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/greening/index.shtm Florida Department of Citrus Grower Website Representative Debbie Mayfield Indian River Research and Education Center – Ft. Pierce www.FDOCGrower.com http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/ http://irrec.ifas.ufl.edu/ Greening Research Updates details.aspx?MemberId=4456&SessionId=64 Low Volume Spray Application Techniques www.floridajuice.com/industry.php Representative William Snyder http://lake.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture/citrus/documents/ Legislative Delegation (Federal) http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/ HoffmannCitrusSprayers.pdf Indian River Citrus District Senator Bill Nelson details.aspx?MemberId=4376&SessionId=54 Soil and Leaf Tissue Testing http://billnelson.senate.gov/ Representative John Tobia http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ss531 Senator Marco Rubio http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/ Pest Management Guide http://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/ details.aspx?MemberId=4447 http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/pest/ Congressman Alcee Hastings Representative Ritch Workman USDA (FASS) Florida Agricultural Statistics Services http://www.alceehastings.house.gov/ http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/sections/Representatives/ http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/index.asp Congressman Bill Posey details.aspx?MemberId=4446&SessionId=64 Greening http://posey.house.gov/ Citrus Industry Magazine http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/docs.htm?docid=18240 Congressman Tom Rooney www.citrusindustry.net United States Horticultural Research Laboratory-Ft. Pierce http://rooney.house.gov/ Florida Grower Magazine http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main. Legislative Delegation (State) www.growingproduce.com/subscribe htm?modecode=66-18-00-00 Indian River Citrus District Governor Rick Scott Southeast AgNet South Florida Water Management District http://www.flgov.com/ www.southeastagnet.com www.sfwmd.gov J. D. Alexander University of Florida/IFAS SFWMD ePermitting http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s17 http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/ www.sfwmd.gov/ePermitting Senator Thad Altman Black Spot Information St. Johns River Water Management District http://www.floridasenate24.com/ http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/black_spot/citrus_ http://floridaswater.com/ Senator Mike Haridopolos black_spot.shtml SJRWMD ePermitting http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s26 Citrus Budgets https://permitting.sjrwmd.com/epermitting/jsp/Search. Senator Joe Negron http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/economics/ jsp?option=permitNumberOption http://www.flsenate.gov/senators/s28 Citrus Research & Education Center Lake Alfred FAWN http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/ http://fawn.ifas.ufl.edu/ Florida Farm Bureau http://www.floridafarmbureau.org/ Weather Underground http://www.wunderground.com/ page 4 www.ircitrusleague.org Update on USDA Advanced Citrus Scion Selections Ed Stover, Greg McCollum, Randy Driggers, and James Salvatore: USDA/ARS, Ft. Pierce, Florida Unless you have been hiding under a selections appear to be quite susceptible hybrid that arose many hundreds of years REALLY big rock and this newsletter to HLB and probably won’t merit interest of ago. DNA sequence analysis indicates that has somehow blown within reach, Indian River growers until other solutions sweet orange is a [(pummelo x mandarin) then you know that the Florida